i call it art

UPDATE: 
I just read this note on FB. It really makes me doubly sad at the current state of our country's racism. 


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I'm sure most of you would have heard of Namewee's newest song. 


As with all of his songs, its written from hate and anger, and designed to create an uproar. 


In case you haven't heard it, let me enlighten you. 


Video entitled "F*CK Racism Malaysia". Song entitled "NAH!!" 

Video Script (in English translation) 


[Namewee]
Ehh... Recently I've been busy with my album, so I haven't had to time to write new songs to f*ck people over. But today, I saw a newspaper article. Someone asked us to go back to China, that news. 
[short clip from Chinese TV news broadcast talking about the school principal that asked Chinese to return to China] 


[Namewee] 
After I saw that, I became really "hot" (angry), right? 
Mood more and more "hot" (angry), right? 
Really feel like writing a song, but the 'feel' hasn't arrived yet. Sometimes, I really need the 'feel'. A bit of 'kick'. 'Kick', ah 'kick'. Ah, 'kick', come. Ah. 
(repeats 'kick' a few more times) 
Yeah, come on. 
Ya, the 'feel' is here! 


[song starts] 
This song, I write for all haters of Chinese. (*uncertain of exact translation)
F*ck racism. 
F*ck you. 
Yeah. 


[chorus]
Nah. Siti Inshah. Nah, sucks banana. 
Nah KPM nah. Nah, kurang ajar. 
Nah. Siti Inshah. Nah, sucks banana. 
Nah KPM nah nah. Diam diam lah. 


[Verse 1] 
Ada satu orang cacat namanya Siti. 
Tapi Siti Inshah bukan Siti Nurhariza. 
Dia surah orang Cina semua balik Cina. 
Dia tolong promote kapal terbang Air Asia. 
Ei guru besar, you otak sudah rosak. 
You tak baca? Siapa buat Malaysia kaya? 
Oh! buku sejarah takde tulis lah. 
Tapi ada Internet mah. 
You tengok you porn saja har? 
Haha! Siapa kasi dia jadi guru besar? 
Haha! Siapa ajar dia mulut macam lampa? 
Haha! Siapa cakap semua orang mesti puasa? 
KPM har? Atau tourism Malaysia? 
Wa pun ada kawan baik orang Melayu. 
Wa pun suka minum sirap bandung. 
Tapi sekarang we mahu cakap dengan you. 
Wa orang pendatang? 
You betul PengKONGKAM lah! 


[chorus] x 2 


END 


Other news you might be interested in. 
Utusan Malaysia states that Najib is instigating investigations on Namewee for his racist video.
Namewee cans video, challenges Puteri to debate. 
Namewee wrote a press release stating his upset at being thought of as racist, as that was the complete opposite of his intention. 


Police report of Siti Insyak's racist public statement. 






Now, I don't really agree with everything Namewee does. To begin with, the amount of swear words and ugly graphics already don't suit my taste. 


But it does cause me to scratch my head when investigations are underway for his racist views. So I thought I'd write down the lyrics to see if there are any actual racist comments in the song. 


And after reading the above multiple times, the only mildly racist statement I can see is "You tak baca? Siapa buat Malaysia kaya?"  


I'd say there would be an element of truth in that statement, as it was the Chinese who first started running businesses in all the major cities in Malaysia. But to say we solely "buat Malaysia kaya" I feel is a little unfair as its all teamwork. Everyone has a part to play in making Malaysia today. 


If Malaysia were run purely by Chinese, I don't think I'd like it very much. Look at Singapore and how kiasu kiasi they are. I really didn't like the atmosphere and environment when I was working there, and felt Malaysia was neighbourly heaven comparatively. 


I feel my Malay friends are a lot more loving, neighbourly, helpful, and accepting. I learn a lot from them, and I wish some racist anti-Malay Chinese would see that too. 


Malaysia is Malaysia because of all of us. I'm proud to be Chinese, but I am also happy to be in a multi-cultural land. I don't see a problem with differentiating to people that I'm Malaysian Chinese (I don't want us to turn into Indonesia and lose our Chinese names and heritage!), but I do think there's a problem when the law discriminates against that. 


In the end, the only problem I see with Malaysia is the Malay-biased and Islamic law that binds the way the government is run. Personally, I feel no government should be run attached to a religious law. I'm Christian, and I wouldn't want to live in the Phillipines where they run the country based on Christian Biblical laws. 


Religion is personal. Rules without relationship to God leads to rebellion. Freedom of choice is a God-given right, and I find it appalling that humans found a way to control other humans to not have that right. 


ANYWAY. Coming back to Namewee. 
Do you really think he should be jailed for racism? 
I don't think so. 




His videos and music could be toned down, I suppose, but then again that wouldn't make him who he is. Lets all face it, he became famous partly because of his swearing. 


I've met him only once before. We talked for like, 20 sentences (with me saying 18 of the 20 sentences), so I can't say I managed to get to know him really well. He's not exactly the friendliest person around. 
(Also, he's super short! Looking at his vids, I always thought he was quite tall and stocky, but when I met him wearing my 2 1/2" heels I towered over him so much I had to lean down to speak to him. It was a weird feeling.)


His English is non-existent, so I needed to speak to him in my horrible Mandarin. And his producer (the person who really writes the songs and music) was the one who did more PR than him. 


My gauge of him is that he's a small town samseng fella who just found a way to speak his mind in his own gifted way. 


Guys like that are funny around their friends, but aren't comfortable in the muack muack scene. 


He also probably didn't have many Malay friends growing up, which would probably attain to his Negarakuku video. But after being in the entertainment scene for a while, that would definitely change. Which is probably why his latest song does show respect for his Malay friends, as compared to that notorious earlier song. 


Being Chinese, I can tell you that so many of my Chinese friends say exactly all he said in his videos. Just that none of us would admit it to our Malay friends. 


I do admire his honesty. But I also long for peace and harmony. 


So I'll say this.
Getting everything out in the open is good. It forces us to deal with all the hidden underlying issues the races have with each other. 


What makes it BAD is when people are immature and don't try to put themselves in the others' shoes and criticize and condemn others' way of living. 
Instead of talking about it, dealing with it, we shout, point fingers at each other to prove who's more racist! 
"UMNO is more racist than Namewee lah! Go arrest them first!"
"Namewee is *toot*! Dares to insult Malays like that! Arrest him!"


It is that very immaturity that causes war. Unhappiness. Constant dissatisfaction. 


We each have a part to play. So why don't we stop focusing on the bad, and just remember how much we love each other's good? 


We all have friends of different races right? 
Why is it you can sit and talk to them, care for them, and say they are your friends, but when you are talking to people of your own race, you generalise and speak the worst of a different race? 




"Chinese are so materialistic. No way they'll help you unless you can do something for them in return. Watch your back when you get into business with them." 
"Malays are so dumb. We need to tell them something 1 million times and they still get it wrong." 
"Indians will argue on everything. They'll never say they are wrong." 


I am Chinese. I like to think I help out my friends whenever I can, without expecting anything in return. I have plenty of Chinese friends who are like that too. 


I have wonderful Malay friends. Some run their own business successfully, and work excellently. They never judge me, and always are there for me whenever I need them. 


I have great Indian friends. They are gorgeous, make me laugh and were friends to me when my Chinese friends weren't. 


And even with everyone I know having similar experiences with their other-race friends, STILL the dislike continues. 


So is Namewee the problem? Or are we ourselves the problem? 

I am addicted to "Love the Way You Lie". 


A song about love, hate and physical abuse. 
Have you ever been a victim of abuse? 

Not the full lyrics. Extracts of the song I find most haunting... 

Networking is important. It gets you job calls out of the blue. Like last last Friday, when I was asked by the owner of S2 Slimming, Stella, to speak on behalf of her brand at Amber Chia and Dato Anna Lim's Beauty and Grooming Workshop on Saturday. 


Friday. Saturday. No next. 


I was given less than 24 hours to prepare, and due to my already prearranged schedule I only started my research at midnight and slept at 3am and spoke the next day at noon and 3pm. 


It went well. At least, I think it did. Stella hugged me after. And the rest of the speakers came to speak to me after. I'm beginning to realise that Malaysians are a sucker for talent. Not saying I have any *cough*. 


I told my friend William who hooked me up with the job after, that I was glad for the job. Not just for the money, but most importantly because I had fun. And realised I had forgotten how I love public speaking. 

Slimming is also the last thing anyone would think to ask me to talk about, as I'm not exactly a size zero. You can guess the fun my friends all made of me once they found out. 
On top of that, I was a person who totally did not believe in slimming centres. I thought of all of them as con jobs, and one of my personal goals in life was to convince people that they were wasting their money by even *thinking* of joining one. 


But Stella surprised me with the facts of S2. 
She believes in going 'Back to Basics'. In going natural. 
S2 doesn't use latest technology machines that create immediate effects but don't last. 
They release the toxins and excess fat from your body by using traditional massaging methods. 


As part of my talk, I spoke of how my sister-in-law, who's a Malay, uses traditional Malay massages to restore her figure after every pregnancy. 
The masssages are brutal, and hurt. Really hurt. After which, cloths are wrapped tightly around the body for an entire month. 
But at the end of that suffering, your body turns into a "what you've given birth before?!?" state. Daphne Iking uses this technique apparently, and look at how hot her bod is. 


Stella doesn't use this Malay technique of massaging though. What she did do was learn massaging techniques across the globe, and brought back her knowledge to create her own S2 slimming massage method. 
And... her treatments have effects that actually last.


Have I convinced you yet? Heck, I convinced myself so much, I signed up for it. *grin*

Check out their website www.s2slimming.com.my for more information. 

Coming back to the talk, other than my teeny tiny segment, the main speakers included Kee Hua Chee and Benjamin Toong, who strutted in 5" heels for all the girls to see.



Kee Hua Chee in his usual strange getup. He has like, 3 or 4 of these suits, in different colours. The guy on the shirt and pants is supposed to be him. 




And check out Benjamin doing his strut with Amber.

I thought the course was pretty interesting in that they got in people from the Malaysian entertainment industry itself such as Ben Ibrahim, Daphne Iking, beauty queens Levi Li and Dato Anna herself, Kee Hua Chee etc to speak at the conference. 

If you're interested to attend and learn a little more on beauty and grooming, check out www.beautyfashionstudio.info/

I know I've been talking about Amber Chia non-stop for the past few blogposts. I promise you this is the last. It just so happens she launched her academy only two days after her beauty and grooming workshop. Hence the onslaught of info. 

The next few posts I'll talk a little more about makeup related information. Till then!

On internationally interesting celebrity news... 


Gerard Butler is now the new face of L'Oreal Men Expert Range. 

I am excited with this news simply because... 
1) Pretty boys advocating skincare is boring. 
2) Gerard Butler is no pretty boy. 
3) Gerard Butler is hot stuff. 


When asked on his new endorsement, Butler states, "I’m excited to be working with L’Oréal Paris.  I have always liked the quality and innovation of their products." 


Haha. Right. You sound really excited. 


I suspect Butler's more the type to not use much skincare at all. But who cares, really? Marketing is about convincing the consumer that to be the person they wanna be they gotta use their products. 

Pic from gordonandthewhale.com 

Think Old Spice's awesome commercial. 




So you know what you gotta do don't ya? Buy L'Oreal's Men Expert Range. And Old Spice. This is not an advert. 

One of Malaysia's biggest stars/ known celebrities is undoubtedly Amber Chia. 

Many hate the idea of her being so well known. Many argue that she has cheapened her worth by accepting every other job on the market, thus causing her sellability to be low amongst the big guns. 

And it does seem to be the case doesn't it? Everywhere you walk and turn, its unavoidable to see her face plastered across posters that would be advertising anything from printers to skincare to blogshops. 


But what bugged me a little, was despite the obvious hate most of the public seemed to have towards her, when I spoke to a few of her counterparts, most seem to have nothing but respect towards her. 


I'm talking about 'celebs' (I try to not to use that word and I don't consider most in Malaysia to be that really but its just easier to get the message across) and business owners, people whom have a respectable reputation, who actually know her, hang out with her. 


They don't agree with her marketing tactics 100%, but they also admit that its undeniable it worked for her. Whereas many in Malaysia would maybe have heard of Daphne Iking, maybe have heard of Carmen Soo, maybe have heard of Harith Iskandar... every Malaysian I know has heard of Amber Chia.

All of them do not deny that Amber is hardworking, dedicated, and passionate to succeed. She may not be the brightest individual around, but she's someone who's determined to make it big, and takes up whatever opportunity she can get to achieve her goals. Which is why she ends up taking every single job she's offered, and attends almost every single event she's invited to.


When I spoke to her over lunch last week at the Amber Chia and Dato Anna Lim Grooming Workshop (next blog update), I decided to put aside all my previous biasness and study her as I would with any individual I had just met. 


My close friends all know that I'm someone who analyses people from the moment I set eyes on them; throughout my conversation with them. It takes me less than 5 minutes to analyse most individuals, though of course a longer, deeper conversation helps fill in the gaps. I won't tell you I think I'm always right, but lets just say I trust my own instincts more than anyone elses, and it hasn't failed me so far. 


So in Amber's case, what I saw was very simply... A typical semi-helpless female who has just enough smarts and determination to make it big. But who isn't good with paperwork, legalities, administration etc., and always hands it over to someone who can do it for her. 
She's a very trusting individual who is blur enough to put up with almost any annoying characteristic, so long the person is her friend who's nice to her (seen from her interactions with some people whom I would never be able to stand). 


I know so many chicks (and several dudes come to think of it) around me who are exactly like that. 
Its just that they aren't a public figure who's every action is scrutinized and criticized by the public eye. 


Her relationship with her husband Adrian Wong is a typical example.
When Amber got married, articles either stated that he's her talent manager, or he's a business owner. I haven't really followed the news but here's the real situation. 


He's a business owner with a legal background (studied law and practised for a few years but deicded to come out to run his own business instead). When he and Amber first started dating (about two years ago) Amber immediately chucked all negotiations of her contracts to him.It was easy for her, and she was lucky enough to have a boyfriend who wasn't out to con her. He would definitely have been able to get away with it, since she really didn't care much for paperwork and details. 


And since she didn't want any publicity on her relationship with him, every time he went to events with her she introduced him as her manager. Since whenever they wanted to negotiate contracts she'd pass the phone to him anyway, it seemed like the perfect cover up story. 


He still continues to help her negotiate her contracts. The Ford Supermodel fiasco? The husband was in the picture, but she decided to just trust that friend, and not get into too much paperwork, as per her personality.


So is he her manager? Yes and no la. You decide. 
Is she dumb? Yes and no too. 

Yes, she doesn't care about details. She delegates that responsibility out if she can. But I don't think that makes her stupid. I have friends exactly like that, and it annoys the hell outta me if the person expects me to handle it all for them. But she gets either her boyfriend/ husband to do it for her, or pays someone to do it.
I've also met people who are seriously stupid and from my conversation with her, I don't lump her in that category. 

Why do I think that? Take her English for example. Yes, its still atrocious. Yes, its annoying. But she always confidently puts together a sentence without halting at ALL. Listen to her speak in public and cringe, but know what I mean. Something I find quite amazing for her level of English. She has no trouble catching on to what I say, which is also quite surprising as many Chinese speaking people I know need me to speak in simpler English or throw in Mandarin to make the conversation easier to undertand. I deliberately threw in some mid level vocabs through our conversation but she had no problem catching on at all. 


As for rumours of her being a slut, I don't think she is one either. Before Adrian, she was with her ex-boyfriend for 10 years. They broke up in 2006 and she got together with her now husband in 2008. And knowing girls like her, she's not the strong type who would go around cheating on her boyfriend. She's more like one of those girls that are terrified their guy will dump them.


What I do think she is is one of those annoying girly girls who can't drive a car properly and hopes someone does everything for her. 


She herself admits, one of the reasons why she adores her husband is that he's capable, and does almost everything she can't do. 

Computer technical problem? He helps fix it. Car broke down? He comes to the rescue. All forms of documentation? He helps handle.

Someone send me an Adrian Wong. 

So there you have it. My personal analysis of who Amber Chia really is. 

I don't claim to know her very well. I certainly don't see her as a friend, and I have no intention of even acknowledging her presence at the next event I'll see her at as I don't assume she'll remember who I am even though we've met at countless events and dealt with one another and also spent a whole day working together (yes, the selective memory of a celeb). 



What I only intended, was to give my personal and (I hope) fair analysis. Not a starstruck one, just because she was nice to me at an event, nor a hate filled one just because she showed her dumbness at another. 


I figure every person deserves as much. 




Note: In case you missed it (which I don't know how you could have really) the above is of my own opinion and is in no way an official representation of Amber Chia and co.

Amber Chia launched her new modelling academy yesterday at her office at Jaya One. Partnering together with Benjamin Toong, catwalk guru, and Desmond Yoi, makeup artist. 

Dato Jimmy Choo and Mama G (Gillian Hung) were the VIPs of the event. 



The modelling industry is still pretty junior in Malaysia. Many girls aspire to be models, but there aren't many proper training grounds for them to learn the skills they need to be international models. 

Sedaya College once tried to create a modelling course. I think it lasted for a year before it was shut down. Probably due to the lack of profitability, or the lack of skilled teachers to administer the course. 


Amber Chia isn't a very 'sweet-smelling' name in the industry, and I myself have on many occasions shown my verbal unhappiness with her character and conduct. 


Last week though, I was given an opportunity to have a sit down chat with her, which changed my perspective of her. I'll share this with you later, as this post is meant to focus on the Academy. 


Since the announcement has been made on their Facebook page, more than 40 students have signed up for this course. 


During the press conference, Amber and Benjamin revealed that the top 3 models of the courses will be sent to New York, to Amber's modelling agency there, where they would possibly be modelling for events such as New York Fashion Week! 


Amber or no Amber, that by itself is a great opportunity for any aspiring model. 


Modelling course fees range from RM1,688 to RM3,888. Makeup course prices start from RM699. 


"Wanna be on top?" :D 

For more information, please call 03-7960 8010, or email [email protected] or visit www.amberchia.com/academy 

Oh look ma. I have a blog.

To apease you art lovers, here are two my fav Boubouteatime pics of the week.